War of Unity
The War of Unity, or the War for Unity, officially began in 0 AU and was the defining moment of the era. It was a battle between the Eastern Territories and Westward for the former's freedom to operate as free nations. History Bloody Beginnings The War of Unity was actually a war on four different fonts, with different powers after different goals. The five generals in charge of their respective armies were: * Krohn the Dragonslayer- Hysaph of Westward at the time and had the largest army in the war. Believed in a renewal of society without the iron grip of the Zealots. * Garr Whitemane- The head of most of the Zealots and the Dragon Council. Fought for traditional ruling in Westward, with the Zealots at the top. * Ygmore Beare- Rival of Krohn who had his own opinions on how the empire should be run. Fought for a return to the clan-like system Westward had had before. * Marcus Flinte- The head of Avalot's forces in the conflict. Wanted the chance to completely destroy Westward's forces and declare complete independence from the barbarians. * Vintin Ernest- The general of the Reach's forces and eventually the new king of the territory. Desired separation from Westward, but also wanted to maintain peaceful relations. Legend has it that it was an agent from the Eastern Territories who sparked the conflict between the three Zealots, but the truth is no one knows what sparked the schism. All that is truly known is that one day in the summer of 0 AU, Krohn expelled both Whitemane and Beare from Zeal after what was supposed to be a peace summit only to erupt in a full public execution of Whitemane's followers. While Whitemane retreated to Sovereign, Beare returned to his home in Providence, both gathering as many followers as they could along the way. While the Zealots squabbled amongst themselves, the east had taken advantage of the chaos and killed all Zealots in their territories before gathering up an army to prepare for the consequences of their rebellion. Beare was the only one out of the three Zealots who saw the danger in this, he had gone to the peace summit in order to bring attention to this revolt, only for his requests to fall on deaf ears. So, while Whitemane and Krohn battled each other in the north, Beare led his army to crush the rebellion to the east. He was surprised to find that the armies of the Reach and Avalot were more than a match for his forces, given that their defensive positions in Berma's mountains proved valuable. Utterly defeated, and suffering causalities of half his army, Beare returned to Providence and waited to make his next move. The Fall of the Dragonslayer Whitemane's fight against Krohn's massive army was also proving to be fatal, with the only thing saving his smaller army being the coming winter. Krohn retreated back to Zeal, victory achieved by his men. He had heard that Beare's army had suffered heavy loses and, after sending a few scouts, discovered that the eastern colonies had been the cause. Seeing now the danger they posed and believing he could wipe out a rival in one motion, Krohn took his army of 200,000 and marched for Providence in the winter of 0 AU. To his surprise, he found the city completely abandon of Beare's forces with no one claiming to know where the general had gone. Suspecting something, but unable to do anything, Krohn turned his attention to the eastern rebels instead. Though his army was twice as large as the eastern rebels forces, led by Marcus Flinte and Vintin Ernest, Krohn found himself facing the same problem as Beare in that the rebels were too well entrenched in their mountains to properly supplant them. At the start of 1 AU, Krohn called for a retreat back to Providence in order to gather his strength which had been sapped from the harsh winter. On that day, the east officially declared their separation from Westward, establishing themselves as two nations, Avalot and the Reach. Krohn returned to Providence with his army, expecting to be greeted by the troops he had left behind to guard the city. To his horror, Beare had been hiding in the hills with his entire army and had retake the capital, thanks to traitors in Krohn's forces, while Krohn's focus was with the rebels. Starving, wounded, and cold, Krohn's army were torn to pieces by the much more prepared Beare army out in the fields surrounding Providence. Krohn himself was said to be slain by Beare in single combat. Shortly thereafter, most of Krohn's soldiers defected to Beare's army. Word spread quickly of Krohn's death, as both Whitemane and Beare made separate attempts at running to Zeal for control of Westward's capital. East Meets West With Beare now having the majority of Westward's forces, now numbering over 100,000 men, he made his march on Zeal only to be beaten by Whitemane who had locked him and his entire army outside in the cold. While the barbarians squabbled, General Flinte and Ernest were having their own disagreements. Ernest believed that their rebellion had simply been to declare independence out of the sake of religious differences. Flinte, on the other hand, saw this as an opportunity to rule over both the east and west. They eventually agreed to have Avalot's forces march forward into the winter while the Reachmen would continue to guard the pass from any invaders. Outside of Zeal, Beare continued to lay siege upon the city in order to make his way inside. At the very end of winter, the worst battle in the war was about to occur, the Zealous Night, with Flinte just arriving from the east. Unknown to the barbarians, Flinte had also sent assassins ahead of time to infiltrate Zeal past the blockading Beare forces. In the dead of night, the assassins murdered 15 Zealots, including Whitemane himself. This tactic, however, backfired. With Whitemane's forces in chaos, Beare turned his attention entirely to the Avalot army and slaughtered them with his superior numbers. At least 50,000 men died within two days outside of Zeal, with the majority of the Avalot army smashed, including Flinte himself, they were forced to retreat. A month later, Beare finally managed to break through the doors of Zeal and reclaim the city from the remaining Zealots. It was the beginning of the end. The Dying Days For the next five years, the remaining forces of Avalot and the Reach stood guard at the Berman pass, prepared to face the full brunt of Beare's army. Though Beare had sent a token force to make sure the rebels stayed where they were, he did not directly engage with the east outside of a few minor skirmishes which only resulted in a handful of deaths. Beare was more preoccupied with holding together the city of Zeal which had erupted into chaos with the previous assassinations. Beare engaged a war on two fronts until 5 AU, when he realized that the eastern forces would not tire out and could outlast him with a ready supply of food. His own supply-line had been trampled by the constant marching of troops in the area. He called a full retreat in order to police the capital. The eastern troops couldn't quite believe that the war was over upon Beare's retreat. They stood guard at the Berman Pass for 3 whole months before most of their troops returned home. leaving only a token force to maintain watch at the mountains. Aftermath With most of Westward's farmlands in ruins, Beare was faced with a difficult situation in his struggle to keep the failing empire together. The city of Zeal became a bloodbath as Beare and his supporters battled against the remaining Zealots for control. In 10 AU, Beare's life was brought to an end with the Zealots eventually outnumbering him. While the barbarians struggled for control, Avalot and the Reach quietly returned to their homes to ponder their new found freedom.